


What Fools These Mortals Be

by misura



Category: Exiles Saga and Galactic Milieu - Julian May
Genre: Developing Relationship, Missing Scene, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-16 18:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2280702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>They have a lot in common,</i> Jack said.</p>
<p><i>That doesn't mean they'll be happy together,</i> she said, remembering Grandma Marsha.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Fools These Mortals Be

She hadn't been as surprised as she might have been (as some people seemed to have expected her to be) when Kenny started dating guys. There'd been a few girls, and she'd even been introduced to most of them (too pointedly, perhaps), but those relationships had never seemed to last very long.

Kenny's first few boyfriends didn't last for very long either. Unlike the girlfriends, for the most part, they remained strangers to Dorothea - characters in a romantic comedy or tragi-comedy, depending on the stage of the relationship at the time Kenny would tell her about them.

Thus, when he introduced her to Luc, it was fairly obvious Kenny was no longer dating guys, either.

 

_I just wish he had a different last name,_ she thought, which was as close as she would allow herself to come to actual self-pity. To begrudge Kenny his no-longer-quite-so-newfound happiness would be unforgivable, clearly, and Luc himself was quite pleasant.

_Not entirely impossible to arrange, if he and Kenny decide to make things official,_ a familiar voice - belonging to the very person she'd been hoping not to meet, of course - commented.

She didn't think she'd actually been broadcasting, but neither Kenny nor Luc were very strong farspeakers and so it might very well have slipped to the surface of her mind - not broadcasted, but still _there_ for someone with the sensitivity to read it. The _audacity_ to read thoughts that were clearly, clearly not meant to be read (except that she hadn't been supposed to be thinking such selfish thoughts, not when Kenny was so happy, so maybe this was her punishment).

Rather than look sideways, where _he_ would be standing now (probably smiling, as he did whenever he felt he'd gotten the better of her in one way or another), she looked at Kenny and Luc again. They were smiling, too, talking softly. _Nauseatingly smushy_ , Kenny would have said two months ago, watching a scene like this. And now here he was.

_They have a lot in common,_ Jack said. As if she didn't know her own brother as well as he knew his - better, probably, given that Jack had several other brothers and sisters, while with her and Kenny, it had pretty much always been just the two of them. Even on Caledonia. _Especially on Caledonia._

_That doesn't mean they'll be happy together,_ she said, remembering Grandma Marsha. She knew it wasn't as entirely fair comparison though. Grandpa and Grandma had hardly had anything in common at all when they met. Mama had sometimes said that was why things had ended so badly between them, when she'd thought Dorothea and Kenny weren't listening.

_Good taste in books,_ Jack said, flashing her an image of a familiar book cover. Poor Nessie getting hit by a flying saucer. _Like you hit me, the first time we met. Powerful stuff!_

If only he'd treat her like a normal person, she was sure she'd find it much easier to do the same.

_Bad taste in clothes._ Not entirely fair: Earth had a lot more variety in both colors and styles to offer than Caledonia, and Kenny had evidently felt he needed to make up for his years of living dressed purely practically. He'd get over it eventually, or so one hoped.

If not, she'd simply have to get used to wearing sunglasses.

_It would be a pity to hide those eyes of yours, Diamond._

_Terrible relatives,_ she said. She was, really, for finding it so hard to simply be happy to Kenny and never mind Luc's family. Luc's younger brother, to be precise.

_Marc has been called that, but I find him not so bad myself. Arrogant, on occasion, but not so much that he becomes actually unlikeable._

_Your basis of comparison may be slightly flawed._

_Do you really think I'm so terrible?_ His expression was playful, but his tone was slightly more serious. If she said 'yes' now, she felt he might take it to heart. Actually _believe_ it, and act based on that belief.

Naturally, saying 'no' would only encourage him to continue speaking to her as he did.

_Sometimes,_ she said, because it was the safest answer.

_Well, that's a relief,_ he said. _Not all the time, then._

 

"That, and they're both kind of weird," Kenny said. "In a good way," he added hastily.

"I still don't see it happening," Luc said, frowning.

"Believe me, they're perfect for each other."


End file.
